Dr. Stein on Democracy Now! broadcast live from Denver during the first Obama-Romney debate

Rigged Debates = Rigged Elections, say Greens

WASHINGTON, DC -- Greens across the US are demanding an invitation for Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein (http://www.jillstein.org) to the presidential debates, in advance of the first debate on Wednesday, October 3, in Denver.

Below is a list of events in Denver and links related to the first debate and Dr. Stein's exclusion, including a march on the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).

Green Party leaders and activists have insisted that the debates must include every candidate who is on enough ballots to win the White House and who has demonstrated a minimal level of support -- either 1% of the vote in a credible national poll or qualification for federal matching funds or both. Jill Stein and Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson meet all of these criteria. (See 'Occupy the CPD!', http://occupythecpd.org)

Greens have called the CPD, which controls the debates, an attempt to rig elections. The CPD, owned and run by the Democratic and Republican parties and the two parties' corporate funders, determines criteria for participation and has decided that only Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will be allowed in front of the microphones.

The CPD took over the debates in the early 1990s to limit the stage to their own candidates and to make sure that no challenging questions get asked. The League of Women Voters, which sponsored the debates before the CPD took over, has called this situation "a fraud on the American voter."

Video: Jill Stein speaks and answers questions from viewers on climate change during a Digital Town Hall broadcast on the Green Party's Livestream Channel on Sept. 30, hosted by "No Impact Man" Colin Beavan, Green candidate for the US House in Brooklyn, NY.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POuKod21vIg